Toto Wolff: the return of suspense, “excellent news for the fans”
The team director of Mercedes is pleased with the homogeneity of the F1 grid during this second half of the season. The Austrian also commented on the difficulties faced by Red Bull.
6 different winners in the last 7 Grand Prix, it had been a long time since Formula 1 fans had found themselves at such a celebration. Even more surprising, the decline of Red Bull’s performance, absent from the podium in 3 of the last 4 races. The Austrian team had nevertheless won 7 of the first 10 Grand Prix of the season through Max Verstappen.
Toto Wolff, team principal of Mercedes, mentioned the revival of the double title-winning constructor’s rivals following the Monza Grand Prix this weekend. “It’s great for Formula 1, it’s real rock and roll,” he reacted. “These fluctuations we observe between these top four teams are excellent news for the fans and excellent news for the sport. There are seven or eight cars that can fight for a podium, and it’s fantastic.”
A “strange” lull for Red Bull
The difficult moments encountered by Red Bull raise questions for the head of the German team. “It’s really strange. I obviously don’t have any information about it, but it’s not at all the same Red Bull as at the beginning of the year,” Wolff said. “[Monza] was probably one of the worst races [for Red Bull] that we have seen in many years, with a total lack of pace. But who am I to say that? We had two years where nothing was working, and it was the same for Ferrari a few races ago.”
Toto Wolff nevertheless expresses reservations about this period that the team led by Chris Horner is going through, which could be just a simple slump. “I don’t think we can count them out. It’s a formidable team, and I’m sure there will be better races,” the Austrian believes.
McLaren, his favorite for the title
If Max Verstappen keeps a 62-point lead over Lando Norris in the drivers’ standings, his team sees McLaren coming back strong in the constructors’ championship. With 8 points to make up for the British team, the situation seems to have changed for Wolff: McLaren is clearly the favorite now for the constructors’ championship, he believes. They have two drivers scoring points, and I bet Red Bull didn’t expect that at the beginning of the year.
On its side, Mercedes is slightly behind in the race for the podium, trailing Ferrari by 115 points. But the 3 victories of its drivers in the last 6 races (Russell in Austria and Hamilton in Great Britain and Belgium) surely bring joy to the boss of the “Silver Arrows”.
